Judge Pedraz refuses to accuse the PSOE "at this moment" in the 'Cloacas case'

The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz has refused to attribute the status of legal entity under investigation to the PSOE "at this time" since some procedures remain to be carried out within the framework of the case in which he is investigating an alleged organization to destabilize the judicial cases that will affect the PSOE and the Government.

In his order, the magistrate is based on the doctrine of the Supreme Court in relation to the criminal responsibility of legal entities and the requirements that are required for their accusation and explains that, from what has been done so far, he does not prove what is called a "principle of evidence" to attribute that status of being investigated. "Although the facts could present an abstract appearance of criminality on the part of the PSOE, an element or principle of evidence that reasonably supports their reality has not yet been incorporated," says the judge.

Pedraz also considers that it is necessary to carry out certain procedures, some already agreed upon, such as the analysis of the documentation seized at the PSOE headquarters and at the home of the former Secretary of Organization of this formation, Santos Cerdán, and others that will have to be noted, such as the latter's statement once all the agreed procedures have been carried out.

Besides. explains the instructor, the payments made to the investigated Leire Díez and others will have to be specified, as well as knowing the purpose of their actions and whether they were ordered and paid by the organizational secretary of the PSOE from accounts owned by the entity for the commission of the illicit commission, allowing an objective connection to be established between the former's actions and the patrimonial structure of the organization.

Likewise, the magistrate indicates that it will be necessary to determine "who materially ordered these payments; who was authorized to dispose of the accounts; how it was accounted for; what concept was recorded in the transfer or accounting; whether there were invoices, contracts or other documents intended to provide apparent coverage for the payment; who authorized or internally validated the expense; whether the financial or accounting department intervened; whether there were limits or double signatures for certain provisions; whether the administrative bodies were aware of the payments; whether there were internal alerts and, in where appropriate, how they were treated; whether the control system allowed payments of this nature without any verification...."

Once these procedures have been completed, the magistrate clarifies, it will be time to decide on the possible status of the PSOE being investigated as a legal entity as requested by the unified popular accusation for crimes of bribery, influence peddling, money laundering and illegal financing of political parties in relation to the embezzlement of public funds.